Clutch



y 5, 936. .1. w. TATTER 2,040,034

CLUTCH Filed June 19, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l VII/IIIIIIII 4 ['96. mvmrok.

May 5, 1936. J. W. TATTER CLUTCH Filed June 19, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR. 1% (751672 A RNEY.

PatentedMay 5, 1936 "UNI ED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLUTCH John 'w. Tatter, Detroit, Mien, assignor of onehalf to George B. Ingersoll, Dear-born, Mich.

Application June 19, 1931, Serial No. 545,449

14 Claim (Cl. 192-88) invention relates to improvements in clutches for motor vehicles, said clutches comprising friction members, and the objects of'my improvement are, first, to provide aclutch with automatic means for taking up wear in friction members, said clutch being provided with a single large thrust spring; second, to provide a clutch having a cover plate, the cover plate having a separate cover member together with a thrust for fastening them together, said means support--,

ing a lever member.

' I attain theseobiects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional view of a clutch assembly within the flywheel of a motor together with its.

P on; Fig. 3,13. sectional view taken om.

the line Fig. 1'; Fig. 4, a sectional view taken on the line 4-], Fig. 2; Fig, 5, a partial longitudinal section disclosing a locking ball member in an unlocked but associated position relative to its sleeve members, said partial section being taken on the center line of the clutch assembly; Fig. 6, a

5 partial sectional view of the clutch assembly disclosing the positions of the various parts when the friction disc members are practically worn out; "Fig. 'L'a sectional view taken on the line 1-1, Fig; 2; Fig, 8, a side elevation of one of the yoke mem- 40 bers for supporting the levers for operating the thrust member; and Fig. 9,.an end levation of or the yoke member disclosed in Fig. '8. a

Similar numerals refer to similar-parts throi s outthe Y The flywheel i ismountedon ofa crankshaft 3 of an engine, supported in the crank case I. The flywheel l is, held onto the flange 2 by the bolts 5. The crankcase 4 isprovided with a bell housing 8 in which the flywheel i revolves. The flywheel l is provided with the chamberl, to-

gether with the friction face 3. The driven mem-:

ber assembly A comprises the friction disc 9 which is fastened to the hub ll, the hub i0 being suitably mounted on the splines of the shaft i2. The 55 friction members l3 and I4 may be suitably fas- The thrust member I! is providcdwith-a sur-r ithe fork portions 33 of the yoke members 20, the as tened to the friction disc 8, the friction member i3 being disposed between the friction face 8 of the flywheel i and the face bf the friction disc 9. Friction member I4 is similarly disposed between the friction disc 8 and the thrust member II. The 5 shaft I2 is supported at its front end in the bearing assembly it, which is mounted in a recess of the'flywheel I, and at its rear end in the bearing assembly II, which may be mounted in the end of the clutch housing II.

The bearing assembly i1 is retained by the shoulder is of the clutch housing IS, the shoulder portion is being provided with a recess for containing the packing 20. The bearing assembly i1 is also further suitably retained in the transmission assembly (not shown), which is mounted in the usual way in the rear of the clutch housing It.

The cover assembly B comprises the main cover plate 2|, together with the cover member 22. v The main cover plate 2| is provided with the projections 23, which serve as piloting members with "member 22, thus providing'a shoulder for retaining the thrust spring: 23, the outside portion of a the thrust spring 23 extending within the charm ,j-

ber portion of the cover member 22. The yohe members 29 are provided with the fork portion 33 together with the portions 3i for extending through suitable holes in the cover plate It and the cover member 22, the portions 3| being made with a rectangular shape to prevent turning in the cover plate 2! and the cover member 22; The portions 3l'of the yoke members 23 maybe provided with threaded ends for engaging'the nuts 32 and the lock washers 33, the nuts 32 and the lock washers-33 thus fastening the yoke members 23 mposition. The covermember 23 .is pro vided with'an extension portion 34, which is fur- I the)? provided with a keyway 35 in which slidably operates the key 3., which is suitably fastened in i the sleeve 31. The sleeve 31,- if desired, can be made a reasonably close flt around the shaft 12 f toifurther aid in guiding the sleeve a miss l m I sliding movement.

face 38 at'the endof the 3!; to which are fastened the members I! by the screws II and the lock washers 42. The levers B are mounted in levers 43 being retained therein by the pins 44. The outer end 45 ofthe lever 43 extends within and operates within the chamber formed by the surface 38 and the inner surface 45 of the member 48. The levers 43 are provided at their inner portions with the ends 41 for engaging the grooved surfaces of the flanges 48 and 49 of the sleeve 53, the grooved surfaces being formed at the sides of the groove 58 of the sleeve 53. The thrust member I5 is provided with an inner rib 5| and an outer rib 52, extending around the periphery of the thrust member to provide additionalstrength. The. sleeve 53 is provided with the surface 54 on which is supported the inner diameter of the thrust spring 28.

The sleeve 53 is further provided with the shoulderportion 55 which takes the thrust load of the thrust spring 28 at its inner diameter, the thrust load at the outer diameter of the thrust spring 28 being taken by the shoulder portion adjacent the central opening 25 of the coverplate 2|. The sleeve 53 is provided with the sleeve member 56 which may be suitably fastened within the sleeve 53, the sleeve member 56 being hardened and operated to its released position, as hereinafter described. Any suitable number and size of ball members 58may be provided to withstand 'a given load as developed by the clutch mechanism. The

ball'members 58 are retained by the inner surface 51 of the sleeve member 55 and the conico-cylindrical surface 68 of the member 59 and also by the washer 6|, which is further retained by the resilient member 62, the resilient member 62 having offset portions to engage the washer 6| and the shoulder portion 63 of the member 59. The

shoulder portion 63' may be of such a diameter as to slide within the sleeve member 56 with the proper clearances between its outside diameter and the inner surface 51 of the sleeve member 56.

The member 59 together with its supported parts is retained on the sleeve 31 by means of the lock ring 64, which may be of the usual open end type, thus providing for the easy removal of the lock ring 64 and for its ready installation within the groove 65 of the sleeve 31.

It is to be noted that the ball members 58 will also engage the ends of the extension portion 34 of the cover member 22 when the clutch is in its engaged position, as shown in Figs. 1 and'5. It

is also to be noted that the resilient member 62' will tend to always force the washer 5|, which will in turn always tend to force the member 59 together with the sleeve 31 and'the ball members 58 to a position in which the ball members 58 will engage the conico-cylindrical surface 68 of the member 59.and the inside surface 51 of the sleeve member 56.

The pedal 66 is suitably mounted on and connected to the shafts 61 and 58, the shafts 51 and 68 being su'itably connected to and supporting the yoke member 69, the pedal 66 being located on the outside of the clutch housing l8 in the con ventional manner as employed in motor vehicles. The shafts 61 and 68 are suitably supported in bearings carried on-opposite sides of the clutch housing "I. The yoke member 59 is provided with a pair of arms 18 which extend upwardly on each side of the main shaft l2 and are provided with rounded portions 1|, which engage the rear face of the race member 12 of the bearing assembly C. The inner race member 13 of the bearing assembly C is suitably fastened on the sleeve 31. The race members 12 and 13 are suitably held together by the retainer member 14.

It is to be noted that, when the operator depresses the pedal 55, the rounded portions 1| of the yoke member 69 will engage the face of the bearing assembly C,'thus forcing the bearing assembly C and thesleeve 31 to slidably move along the extension portion 34 of the cover member 22, this in turn forcing the conico-cylindrical surface 68 of the member 59 to engage the ball members 58 -oi' the groove 58 of the sleeve member 53 thus moving the ends 41 of the levers 43 towardsthe thrust member IS. The movement of the inner ends 41 of the levers 43 toward the thrust member l5 will cause the ends 45 of thelevers 43 to engage the surfaces 46 of the members 48, this in turn causing the thrust member I5 to be moved to a released position, as shown in Fig. 2, this released position of the clutch thus establishing the clearance spaces 15 between the friction members -.I3 and I4 and their engaging surfaces. As the operator releases the pressure on the pedal 66 to allow the clutch to move from its released position as shown in Fig. 2 tea fully engaged position as shown in Fig. 1, the spring 28 will force the sleeve member 53 rearwardly to a position as shown in'Fig. 1, the ends 41 of the levers 43 moving with the sleeve member 53, this in-turn causing' theends 45 of the levers 43 to engage the surfaces 38 of the thrust member l5, this forcing the thrust member |5 forwardly to its engaged position with the friction members I 3 and 4, as disclosed in Fig. 1. The sleeve 31 being still locked by the ball members 58 engaging the conicobearing assembly C to move back to'a released po-,, 4

sition relative to the ball members 58 as disclosed in Fig. 5, the sleeve 31 moving rearwardly to its position'as shown in the fully engaged position of the clutch as disclosed in Fig.1, this corresponding to the slightly released position of the sleeve31 as disclosed in Fig. 5', the conico-cylindrical surface 68 of the member 59 having moved rearwardly sufficiently to release the ball members 58 from their locked position with the inner surface 510! the sleeve member 56 as disclosed in Fig. 5. a

It is to be noted, however, that the ball members 58 are always maintained in contact with the end of the extension portion 34 of the cover member 22 by the washer 6|, when the clutch is in an engaged position as disclosed in Fig. 1, said washer being actuated by the resilient member 52- to a position engaging the ball members 58.

The unlocked position of the ball members 58, in 75 which the ball members 58. will always remain in,

an engaged or associated position with the inner surface 51 of the sleeve 58, as disclosed in Fig.5 corresponding to the fully engaged position of 5 the clutch, as disclosed in Fig. i, will allow the thrust spring 28, every time the clutch is operated to its engaged position, as shown in Fig. 1, to cause the levers 48 to move the sleeve member 53 rearwardly an additional distance, which will l0 correspond to the amount of wear taking place on the friction members l3 and I4. I

It will thus be seen that every time the clutch is operated to its fully engaged position, as disclosed in Figs. 1 and 5, the ball members will be unlocked from their engagement with the inside surface 81 of the sleeve 58 sufliciently to allow the thrust spring 28 to cause the thrust member I! to always move forwardly in engagement with the friction members i8 and II to take up any wear that may have occurred in the friction members I 8 and, the ball members 88 remaining in actual engagement with the inside surface of the sleeve 58. It will thus be seen that the clutch will provide automatically for taking up the wear clearance which may occur in its driving mechanism, so that the pedal 88 will not have to be adjusted to maintain it in its proper operating position, as is necessary in the usual design of clutches. Also, the thrust member I! will not have to be manually operated in any way to take up clearance. V

It is also to be especially noted that my invention will provide an automatically operated means that will operate continuously, while the clutch -is operating in its engaged position, to take up the clearance due to wear in the friction members of said clutch. V

The flywheel I is disclosed asbeing provided with a starting ring I8. Also, the bell housing 8 40 is provided with the inspection cover 11 and the clutch housing I8 is provided with the inspection cover 18. The thrust member I! is provided with slots 18 in its outer periphery, the slots I8 being engaged by the rectangularportions 80 of the driving pins 8|, the driving pins 8i being pressed into the holes 82 ofthe flywheel I. It is tobe noted that, when the clutch is in its-fully engaged position as disclosed in Fig. 1. a slight clearance space will exist between the rear face of the race member I2 of the bearing assembly C and the rounded portions" ofthe arms 18. In order to decrease the time element during which the driven member assembly A and the shaft 12, together with any gears in atransmission (not shown) which may be connected with the shaft l2, will be spinning during the releasing operation of the clutch, the yoke mem ber 68 is provided with an angular surface on which is suitably mounted a brake bracket 88, 50 the brake bracket 83 being fastened to the yoke -'-member 68 by the screws 84 and the lock washers 85. The brake bracket '88 is provided with a semi-circular portion 88 to which is suitably fastened a friction facing or lining 81., the friction facing 8'I- being semi-circular in shape to conform to the outside diameter of the shaft I! when the yoke member 69 and'the'brake bracket 88 are in the position as shown in Fig. 2, which corresponds to the released position of the clutch as- 70 sembly. The'brake bracket 83 may be provided with ribs 88 for reinforcement It will be readily seen that, when the'clutch assembly is operated to its 'disengagedposit'ion, as shown in Fig. 2, the brakebracket 88 willmove with the yoke memberis to a position'as disciosedin;

Fig. 2, in which the friction facing 81 will engage the revolving shaft l2, the friction facing 81 extending semi-circularly around the shaft l2. The operator by continuing to depress the clutch pedal 88 will'thus cause the friction facing 81 to engage 5 the shaft l2 with any desired pressure to arrest the revolving motion of the shaft 12, together with its driven member assembly A. As soon as i the clutch assembly is fully engaged, as disclosed in Fig. l, the friction facing 81 will be moved away 10 from the shaft l2 by the movement of the brake bracket 88 and the yoke member 68. The clutch housing I8 is suitably attached to the bell housing 8 by the screws 88 and lock'wa'shers 80.

I claim: 15 T 1. In a friction clutch, the combination of a driving member, a driven member, a cover member fixed to one .of said members and enclosing the other of said members, a thrust member movable longitudinally relative to said cover member, 20 a sleeve member. slidably mounted through said cover member, a lever pivotally mountedwithin said cov'er member, said lever engaging said thrust member, a second sleeve member engaging said lever, automatically operated clearance take-up 2 means engaging said sleeve members, and a resilient member between said second mentioned sleeve member and said cover; member, said resilient member actuating said thrust member to engage said driven member. 30 l 2.'In a clutch, the combination of a driving member, a thrust member, a driven member, a single resilient thrust member, for actuating said thrust member, said single resilient member exerting its actuating thrust in a direction away 35 from said thrust member, and automatically operated means for taking up wear between said thrust member.

3. In a clutch, the combination of a driving 40 member, a driven member, a cover member fixed to one of said members, said cover'member bein providedkwith an extending portion together with a chamber having cylin rical walls, a sleeve member in the extension portion of said cover member, 45 clearance take-up members adapted to engage the extension portion of said cover member to-' gether with said sleeve member, a second sleeve member engaging said clearance take-up members, and a main thrust resilient member having coils increasing outwardly in size and engaging said second: sleeve member together with the cylindrical walls of the chamber of said "cover member. Y

4. In a clutch, the combination of a driving member, a driven member, a thrust member, cover means suitably mounted on said driving member, said ,cover means comprising a pair of members, a resilient thrust member having one of its ends anchored adjacent the two members 60 comprising said cover means, and means operativelyconnecting said thrust member and said resilient thrust member, said means including a member supporting the other of the ends of said resilient thrust member. r 65 5. In a clutch, the combination of a cover member provided with an opening therethrough, and a cover member suitably mounted on said first mentioned cover member, said last mentioned cover memberv being provided with a chamber 7 having a periphery larger than the opening in said first mentioned cover member.

6. In a clutch comprising a driving member, the

combination of a cover member, a resilient thrust member insaid cover member, and a second on the clutch, said cover member being provided with an opening therethrough, a second cover member suitably mounted on said first mentioned cover member, and a resilient member operatively connected with and adapted to actuate said thrust member, said resilient member being suitably anchored at one of itsends between said cover members, said resilient member'exerting a thrust in a direction away from said thrust member. v

9. In a clutch provided'with driving and friction members, the combination of a cover member suitably mounted on the driving member of the cfutch, a second cover member suitably mounted on and providing a chamber adjacent said first mentioned cover member, and automatically operated means for taking up wear clearance of the friction members, said automatically operatedmeans being operatively connected with the clutch, said automatically operated means being located within the chamber provided by said second cover member when the clutch is in an engaged position. 7

10. In a clutch, the combination of a thrust member, a cover member suitably mounted, a second cover member, a member provided with fork .po'rtions together with a portion' extending through said first-mentioned and said second cover members, means for securing said member,

provided with fork portions, to said first mentioned and said second mentioned cover members,

a lever for operating said thrust member, said leverbeing suitably mounted on the fork portions of said last mentioned member, and means for operating said lever. I

11. In a friction clutch, the combination of a sleeve member slidably mounted and, provided with a'groove extending therearound adjacent its end nearest the friction clutch, a member removably mounted on said sleeve member and provided with aconico-cylindrical surface, means for locking said second mentioned member on said sleeve member, said means being retained in the'groovemf said sleevemember, an annular member suitably mounted in axial alignment with and adapted to move axially relative to said sleeve member, said annular .member being operatively connected with the friction clutch, and

movably mounted means engaging said annular member and the conico-cylindrical surface of said sleeve member to provide locking means therebetween only when the friction clutch is being operated to a disengaged position.

12. In a friction clutch, the combination of a friction member suitably mounted, a thrust member suitably mounted to engage said friction member, a sleeve member movably mounted and 'operatively connected with said thrust member, a helical spring suitably anchored at its outside portion and with its inside portion supported on said sleeve member, said helical spring exerting a thrust in a direction away from said thrust member to move said sleeve member away from the thrust member, a second sleeve member movably mounted, and rollably mounted members operatively connecting said first mentioned and said second sleeve members to lock said first mentioned and said second sleeve members together when the friction clutch is being operated to a disengaged position, said rollably mounted mem-' bers permitting said first mentioned and said second sleeve members to move longitudinally relative to one another when the friction clutch is in an engaged position.

13. In a clutch, the combination of a driving member, a driven member, a thrust member, a pair of sleeve members, a main thrust resilient member suitably mounted and adapted to move one of said sleeve members in a direction away i from said thrust member, rollably mounted members suitably mounted to engage said pair of sleeve members, said rollably mounted members locking said pair of sleeve members together to prevent longitudinal movement in one direction relative to one another, said rollably mounted members permitting longitudinal movement of said sleeve members in the other direction relative to one another, and means for operatively connecting one of said sleeve members with said thrust member.

14. In a clutch, the combination of\a cover member comprising a cover having an opening therethrough, together with a wall portion for use-as a closure member for the cover, and a resilient thrust member retained in said closure member, said resilient thrust member being suitably mounted between said cover and said wall portion used as a closure member, said resilient thrust member being operatively connected with the clutch and exerting a thrust to operate the clutch to an engaged position, said thrust being exertedin a direction away from the clutch. JOHN W. TATTER. 

